It has been another whirlwind year for the Centre for Ecocities and for everyone working on sustainability and climate action. As the year comes to a close, we wanted to share highlights of our work in 2023 and our plans for 2024.
Project Announcements
We are excited to have kicked off new projects over the past few months:
- International Ecological Footprint Learning Lab
This seven-year project, in collaboration with York University and the University of Iceland, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), will improve methodologies, knowledge, and student training in ecological footprinting at the urban scale. - Urban Consumption Guidebook for Cities
We are working with C40 Cities, OneEarth Living, and Hot or Cool Institute to develop a guide to equip global cities to take climate action using a consumption lens. This guide, with interactive resources, will launch in the spring. - British Columbia (BC) specific Policy and Planning Guide
With funding from the Real Estate Foundation of BC, we are developing a BC-based guide for addressing priorities indicated by Consumption-Based Emission Inventories (CBEIs) while also advancing equity. We are also developing an archetype tool to simplify creation of CBEIs and Ecological Footprint assessments for communities across BC.
Municipal Footprints
It has been another busy year of creating inventories!
Using the ecoCity Footprint Tool developed by Dr. Jennie Moore, our team completed Ecological Footprint assessments and CBEIs for the City of Ottawa, Lakefield College School, District of Saanich, City of Victoria, and City of Nanaimo (in progress).
Events & Presentations
Our team led and supported a number of webinars, workshops, and presentations this year:
March
- Cora Hallsworth delivered a presentation to the Climate Caucus encouraging Canadian Cities to consider their consumption-based emissions.
- Christina Olsen represented the Centre presenting to the CMHC Expert Group on Housing on how BC municipalities are reducing greenhouse gas emissions and materials through measuring and managing consumption-based emissions and ecological footprint and developing buildings-related policies.
May
- An Ecocity Webinar on Sustainable Lifestyles explored how local governments and their partners can advance sustainable lifestyles to act on climate, justice, and biodiversity.
June
- The Centre played a key role in the Ecocity World Summit in London, England where Christina Olsen served on the Academic Committee. Christina also led the workshop on closing the sustainability and equity gap in cities through use of consumption-based sustainability metrics, which included a video from the District of Saanich on their work in this area.
September
- Christina Olsen participated in a panel focussed on solving the over-consumption conundrum at the Fully Charged home energy and electric vehicle event.
October
- The Centre coordinated an Ecocity Peer Network Zoom meeting with the Honourable George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy for British Columbia (BC). Peer Network members discussed what is needed at the local level and how that can be scaled to achieve the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030.
- Cora Hallsworth represented the Centre on a panel discussing how a bioregional approach can ensure we all can live well within the limits of our bioregion at the Victoria stop of the Regenerate Cascadia Bioregional Activation Tour.
- Ryan Mackie delivered a presentation to the Climate Caucus on carbon budgeting and science-based targets.
November
- The Centre co-hosted a workshop and presented on the role of cities in Building Circular Culture for Climate Action at the Zero Waste Conference in Vancouver.
December
- At the Ecocity Webinar on Climate Targets, Ryan Mackie shared how current greenhouse gas emissions targets and carbon budgeting stand up to the latest climate science and our progress to net zero.
Throughout the year, we also shared our knowledge with students and faculty at BCIT through presentations to various business and engineering classes.
New Publications & Media
Dr. Jennie Moore, with colleagues from Université du Québec and the University of British Columbia, and graduate students from Université du Québec and Simon Fraser University, published the paper To what extent is sustainability addressed at urban scale and how aligned is it with Earth’s productive capacity? This publication is a result of a grant from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to explore how living within Earth’s carrying capacity can be measured and managed at the city scale.
Dr. Moore was interviewed on CKNW 980 radio on what it means for cities and societies to be socially just and ecologically sustainable, as well as what can be done to build ecocities.
Ecocity Peer Network Member Spotlights
Spotlight on Saanich
The District of Saanich formally integrated the Ecological Footprint as a core metric to guide the municipality within its Official Community Plan, which is currently in final stages of approval. Saanich continues to support community stakeholders in taking action on footprint reduction through the One Planet Saanich initiative, the One Planet Student Challenge, the Resident’s Climate Action Guidebook, and the Saanich Carbon Calculator.
Spotlight on Vancouver
The City of Vancouver has taken a big step forward in addressing embodied emissions of buildings. Reporting requirements for whole building embodied carbon impacts are now in effect for new Part 3 buildings. Reduction requirements are coming in January 2025. More information: